Europium is a rare earth element found in minerals and processed in China and the US. It is silvery-white, soft, and reactive. It is used in televisions, lasers, and genetic screening tests. It is mildly toxic and has an assortment of isotopes.
Europium is a metallic chemical element classified among the rare earth elements of the periodic table. While europium is not found in a pure form in nature, it can be found in an assortment of minerals; China and the United States are the two main sources of the world’s europium, in the form of ores that must be processed to extract europium and other elements. The element doesn’t have a wide range of uses, so consumers rarely interact with it directly, although europium oxide is used in the manufacture of some televisions and computer monitors.
In appearance, europium is silvery-white, and the element is also very soft and easy to work with. It is highly reactive with both air and water and tends to form a dull sheen, even when stored in non-reactive environments such as mineral oil. The element is identified by the symbol Eu on the Periodic Table of the Elements, and has an atomic number of 63. It is named, incidentally, for Europa.
Paul Emile Lecoq de Voisbaudran was the first to observe the spectral signature of europium, in 1890. The discovery of the element, however, is generally credited to Eugene-Anatole Demarcy, a French chemist who succeeded in isolating a relatively pure form in 1901 Truly pure europium was not isolated until the 1960s when advanced techniques were used to extract the reactive element from monazite.
In addition to being used in televisions, europium is also occasionally used as a dopant in lasers. Scientists and researchers also work with europium on a variety of projects, and geologists use the europium content of rocks to learn more. The element is also used in some genetic screening tests. It can also be bonded with other metallic elements to form specific chemical compounds.
Like other rare earth elements, europium is mildly toxic and people should probably avoid consuming it; furthermore it is not necessary from a nutritional point of view, even in very small quantities. Fumes from heated europium should also be avoided, and the dust from the element may cause a fire or explosive hazard due to its high reactivity. Europium also has an assortment of isotopes, most of which aren’t very dangerous.
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